BBK Corporation, having achieved excellent success with the Vivo, OPPO and Realme brands in its homeland, in China, is trying to transfer these successes to foreign soil - and to Russia, in particular. It turns out so far not that very cool, but the company continues to try to find its own approach, different from the most obvious “cheaper and with better characteristics”. One way is to surprise.
The Vivo NEX series is just created to surprise. Last year's flagship became the world's first smartphone with a retractable camera, which made it possible to make an almost completely frameless display without tricks like a "bangs" or a walleye in the form of a front camera inserted directly into the screen. At the beginning of this year, a second NEX appeared, in which the same result was achieved using an additional display on the back. Both of these smartphones were released in limited edition and at a very serious price.
Vivo V15/V15 Pro is a direct successor to the ideas of last year's NEX, but designed for a more mass consumer: with half the price, while being thinner, lighter and with a triple camera.
Vivo V15, despite almost the same name, differs radically from the Pro version: a weaker platform (Mediatek P70) is combined with a slightly larger (6,53-inch) LCD display, a larger battery and a simplified, but also triple camera. Vivo V15 costs 28 rubles, V990 Pro - 15 rubles. In this review, we will only talk about the Pro version.
Technical specifications
| Vivo V15 Pro | |||||
| Display | 6,39" AMOLED 2340 × 1080 dots, 403 ppi, capacitive multi-touch |
6,39" AMOLED 2340 × 1080 dots, 403 ppi, capacitive multi-touch |
6,41" AMOLED 2340 × 1080 dots, 402 ppi, capacitive multi-touch |
6,4" IPS 2310 × 1080 dots, 398 ppi, capacitive multi-touch |
6,4" AMOLED 2340 × 1080 dots, 401 ppi, capacitive multi-touch |
| Protective glass | Yes, manufacturer unknown | Corning Gorilla Glass 6 | Corning Gorilla Glass 6 | Corning Gorilla Glass (version unknown) | Corning Gorilla Glass 6 |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 675: two Kryo 460 Gold cores, 2,0 GHz + six Kryo 460 Silver cores, 1,7 GHz | Qualcomm Snapdragon 855: One Kryo 485 Gold core 2,85GHz + three Kryo 485 Gold cores 2,42GHz + four Kryo 485 Silver cores 1,8GHz | Qualcomm Snapdragon 845: Quad-core Kryo 385 Gold @ 2,8GHz + Quad-core Kryo 385 Silver @ 1,7GHz | HiSilicon Kirin 980: eight cores (2 x ARM Cortex A76 @ 2,6GHz + 2 x ARM Cortex A76 @ 1,92GHz + 4 x ARM Cortex A55 @ 1,8GHz); HiAI architecture | Qualcomm Snapdragon 710: two Kryo 360 Gold cores, 2,2 GHz + six Kryo 360 Silver cores, 1,7 GHz |
| Graphics controller | Adreno 612 | Adreno 640 | Adreno 630, 710 Мц | ARM Mali-G76 MP10, 720 MHz | Adreno 616, 750 Мц |
| RAM | 6 GB | 6/8/12 GB | 6/8/10 GB | 6/8 GB | 6 GB |
| Flash memory | 128 GB | 128/256 GB | 128/256 GB | 128/256 GB | 128 GB |
| Memory card support | There is | No | No | No | There is |
| Разъемы | MicroUSB, mini jack 3,5 mm | USB Type-C | USB Type-C | USB Type-C, mini-jack 3,5 mm | USB Type-C |
| SIM cards | Two nano-SIMs | Two nano-SIMs | Two nano-SIMs | Two nano-SIMs | Two nano-SIMs |
| Cellular 2G | GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz | GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz CDMA 800 |
GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz CDMA800/1900 |
GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz | GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz |
| Cellular 3G | HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 MHz | HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100 MHz | HSDPA 800 / 850 / 900 / 1700 / 1800 / 1900 / 2100 MHz | HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100 MHz | WCDMA 800 / 850 / 900 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100 MHz |
| Cellular 4G | LTE Cat.12 (up to 600 Mbps): bands 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20, 28, 38, 40, 41 | LTE: bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 20, 28, 38, 39, 40 | LTE Cat.16 (up to 1024 Mbps): bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 32 , 34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 46, 66, 71 | LTE Cat. 13 (up to 400 Mbps): bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 19, 20, 28, 38, 39, 40, 41 | LTE Cat.15 (up to 800 Mbps): bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 32, 34, 38, 39 , 40, 41 |
| Wi-Fi | 802.11a / b / g / n / ac | 802.11a / b / g / n / ac | 802.11a / b / g / n / ac | 802.11a / b / g / n / ac | 802.11a / b / g / n / ac |
| Bluetooth | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| NFC | There is | There is | There is | There is | There is |
| Navigation | GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou | GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo, QZSS | GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo | GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo | GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo |
| SENSORS | Illumination, proximity, accelerometer/gyroscope, magnetometer (digital compass) | Illumination, proximity, accelerometer/gyroscope, magnetometer (digital compass) | Illumination, proximity, accelerometer/gyroscope, magnetometer (digital compass) | Light, proximity, accelerometer/gyroscope, magnetometer (digital compass), IR sensor | Illumination, proximity, accelerometer/gyroscope, magnetometer (digital compass) |
| The fingerprint scanner | Yes, on screen | Yes, on screen | Yes, on screen | There is | Yes, on screen |
| Main camera | Triple module: 48 MP, ƒ / 1,8 + 8 MP, ƒ / 2,2 + 5 MP, ƒ / 2,2 (depth sensor), phase detection autofocus on the main camera, LED flash | Triple module: 48 MP, ƒ / 1,8 + 16 MP, ƒ / 2,2 + 12 MP, ƒ / 2,2, hybrid autofocus, dual LED flash | Dual module, 16 + 20 MP, ƒ / 1,7 + ƒ / 1,7, hybrid autofocus, dual LED flash | Dual module, 48 MP, ƒ/1,8 + 3D-TOF camera, phase detection autofocus, LED flash | Dual module, 12 + 20 MP, ƒ / 1,5-2,4 + ƒ / 2,6, phase detection autofocus, optical stabilization, LED flash |
| Front-camera | 32 MP, ƒ/2,0, fixed focus, retractable | 20 MP, ƒ/2,0, fixed focus | 16 MP, ƒ/2,0, fixed focus | 25 MP, ƒ/2,0, fixed focus | 25 MP, ƒ/2,0, fixed focus |
| Food | Non-removable battery: 14,06 Wh (3700 mAh, 3,8 V) | Non-removable battery: 12,54 Wh (3300 mAh, 3,8 V) | Non-removable battery: 14,06 Wh (3700 mAh, 3,8 V) | Non-removable battery: 15,2 Wh (4000 mAh, 3,8 V) | Non-removable battery: 14,06 Wh (3700 mAh, 3,8 V) |
| Size | 157,3 × 74,7 × 8,2 mm | 157,5 × 74,7 × 7,6 mm | 157,5 × 74,8 × 8,2 mm | 156,9 × 75,4 × 8,1 mm | 157,6 × 74,6 × 7,9 mm |
| Weight | 185 grams | 173 grams | 185 grams | 180 grams | 183 grams |
| Housing protection | No | No | No | No | No |
| Operating system | Android 9.0 Pie, FunTouch 9 shell | Android 9.0 Pie, MIUI shell | Android 9.0 Pie, OxygenOS shell | Android 9.0 Pie, EMUI shell | Android 8.1 Oreo, ColorOS shell |
| Actual price | , , | , |
Design, ergonomics and software
The appearance of Vivo V15 Pro expresses its concept. This is almost devoid of frames around the display (the screen here occupies 91,64% of the front panel area), a relatively thin smartphone with a clear emphasis on the rear camera. It is expressed in the fact that the block, which houses three lenses and a flash, not only protrudes above the body, but is even highlighted in color.
In general, the color design of Vivo V15 Pro deserves separate words. Bright smartphones today are no longer surprising: the days of all-black, silver and gold handsets, fortunately, are over - and the V15 Pro is in perfect harmony with this trend: it comes in copper-red (“bright coral”), as in our case, and blue- blue ("blue topaz"). I add that the back also received an unusual texture, due to which the body casts beautiful reflections in the rays of light.
Both the front and back panels are covered with glass - on the back it is curved to the edges in order to visually reduce the thickness of the device and improve grip. The front glass is flat. Like almost any modern glass smartphone, especially those with curved edges, the Vivo V15 Pro strives to crawl off any imperfectly flat surface - be careful. It can also slip out of the hands, and its back surface does not differ in resistance to various greasy stains and prints. If you use the V15 Pro without a case, you will also need to get a cleaning cloth and use it regularly.
Despite the narrow bezels and small thickness, it is impossible to use the Vivo V15 Pro with one hand - the 6,4-inch display hardly allows you to close your fingers, and there is no need to talk about reaching its corners.
The front camera block is located on the top panel. As you might guess, it is thicker than the main part of the body and is located in the same camera block protruding above the body. It is not possible to forcibly eject the front camera manually. The camera pops out only when necessary, when you turn on any application that requires its participation. If you rarely take pictures and are not a fan of selfies at all, then you will have to watch her appearance, which is accompanied by a characteristic hi-tech voice acting, infrequently. It takes about a second for this mechanism to advance or hide. Like any similar telescopic element, the camera collects quite a lot of dust, even if you rarely use it - it just stuffs into the slot. Almost every time, before taking a selfie, the lens will have to be wiped.
There are three more distinctive elements in the ergonomics of Vivo V15 Pro. The first is an additional key on the left side, it was originally created to call Jovi's proprietary smart assistant, but its capabilities are very limited in our case, so in this case it activates Google Assistant. The second is just two slots for various cards. The one on the bottom accepts two nano-SIM cards, the one on the left side accepts microSD. An original and user-friendly solution.
The third point is the microUSB port instead of the already familiar and more current USB Type-C. This is also an original, but completely paradoxical solution. Yes, it’s still easier to find a microUSB cable, but you won’t find a similar connector in smartphones of this class. Another "anachronism" is a mini-jack placed on the top edge. You just rejoice at him, and there is no need to talk about the moisture protection sacrificed to him - anyway, it is impossible in the presence of a retractable element. Light and proximity sensors are hidden under the screen - their work can be seen at some points by flickering from under the protective glass covering the screen.
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Vivo has more experience in placing a fingerprint scanner under the screen than anyone else - it was this company that released the smartphone , the first in the world to receive this element. Today there are already quite a few of them, but ultrasonic sensors do not always work stably. Vivo V15 Pro is a good example in this regard - according to the experience of interacting with it, the local optical sensor differs little from the usual capacitive one. Yes, it works a little longer, but it is very stable and with a minimum percentage of defects.
Interestingly, despite the lack of a constantly active front camera and the presence of a perfectly working fingerprint scanner, Vivo did not abandon the face recognition system. It is elementary here - it just checks the face with a photo taken on the front camera, but it works: the camera appears from the body for half a second, does its job and immediately goes back. The whole process takes less than a second.
Source: 3dnews.ru